My lead alloy varies from great to garbage. Just depends
on where I get it and how much I'm willing to spend.
While back I switched the bullets over to Barry's copper
plated flat nose in 45Colt and 44Spl/Mag. Figured the 230
RN were such a hit with my 45ACP I'd just load everything
above .357Mag with plated rounds. Sounded logical. And
for the most part it's worked out pretty good.

They shoot accurately enough with the proper load and
clean up is ridiculously easy. But recently I've noticed
copper streaks down the bore following the lands. Looking
down the bore you don't see it, but put a light to the
side and it goes the whole length of the bore. Not good
if I decide to shoot cast rounds huh? So now that easy
cleaning isn't so easy anymore.

Here's my pros & cons:

Pros:

Clean. Both to load and clean weapon.
Already made. No casting, sizing, and lubing.
Time saver being premade.
Always sized correct and precise.
No leading. If not crushed in crimp.

Cons:

Costly. Less than say FMJ's but not by much.
Not always available. Must order and wait.
Almost no variety in bullet design.
Can't shoot any faster than cast.
Will lead if pushed beyond the limit.

So after a year and a half of shooting these plated big
bores, I'm not 100% thrilled, but again I'm not totally
disappointed either. I suppose I'm somewhere in the
middle leaning back towards cast rounds. Neat and clean
built by someone else is cool, but a copper clad
truncated flat nose sure ain't no Keith SWC or a classic
RNFP Lee cast with that famous "tabletop" wide flat nose
that smashes everything it hits.

I'll probably return to all cast again after these copper
toppers are gone. Besides, where else am I going
to find 232gr .430" Gordon Boser designed SWC for my
44Spl? Ain't NOBODY making them 'cept maybe me.So next pay call I'll put in an order from RotoMetal for
some GOOD alloy and cast me up some special stuff. Plated
stuff is cute and I've enjoyed the break from casting
large stuff for the most part, but I'm tossing the trash
in the melting pot and starting over with "The Good
Stuff".

Edited by Old Ranger on April 03 2018 at 1:10pm

__________________"I am not politically correct. I don't apologise for being American. I stand by my country and have no use for anyone who does not."

I have never had any problems with naked lead either, just got tired of
lube on dies and wiping it off finished rounds all the time and all smoke,
the polymer is my effort to eliminate steps but I do not coat myself.

I havenít noticed any foul odor with Badman or Bayou Bullets.

I still happily use naked lead for guns I donít shoot volumes of ammo in.

Moseying back to the plated bullets, it has, as stated
earlier, shown that they too will leave a deposit of
copper in the bore of one's handguns. I can get lead out
of a barrel a lot faster than I can copper. Copper does
not scrub out easily like lead. It requires an attack
from chemical cleaners and a lot of effort on one's part
to remove it from the bore. Thus copper-plated bullets
have lost their allure with me.

I have 200 brand new 45colt cases that are in the mail
carriers vehicle as we speak. You can bet your little
Post Toasties that when they get loaded it will be with
my cast bullets. Yup, bye-bye copper. The only thing I
have now that shoots copper clad bullets is "Dr. Evil",
the most hated rifle of the leftist lunatics. I play with
it some, but I don't take it too seriously.

__________________"I am not politically correct. I don't apologise for being American. I stand by my country and have no use for anyone who does not."

A small wad of Chore Boy on a worn out brush. A squirt of
Ballistol and a few strokes and the lead is gone. Have an
old Lewis rig but haven't used it in decades. Chore Boy
is faster, cheaper, and can be found at any super market.
The Lewis proprietary mesh discs are costly and require
special order.

__________________"I am not politically correct. I don't apologise for being American. I stand by my country and have no use for anyone who does not."

Personally, I have no need for plated bullets. I have
my cast bullets worked out so most do not lead the
barrels and they are are accurate as any. If I need
higher velocity, I'll just go with jacketed. Yep, they
will leave copper residue in the barrels (my 45 ACP and
9mm).

New reloaders often get into trouble with plated
bullets
manly because there ain't a lot on easily found info,
yet. I see a lot of questions on forums from new
fellers
asking about load data and methods (especially
crimping).
I don't have anything against them, just not for me (I
did try about 1,000 in a couple of my handguns).

For scrubbing lead, copper, etc. . . out
of gun boars another option is the "bronze
wool" it is like steel wool only it's
bronze not steel, internet/mail order
machinest supply places usually have it
available in a variety of corseness
grades.

As to copper plated or hard powder coated
bullets one of the main areas where they
offer a true benefit is when you have a
gun with unusual bore dimensions for which
few if any jacketed bullets are made to
fit and you want to load hotter then even
the best cast load is capable of going.
In such a situation you can take copper
plated or hard powder coated the next size
larger and use a simple push through press
sizer to size it down to fit properly.
You try doing that with jacketed and you
will get core jacket separation issues
because when sizing down the jacket
springs back a little while the core does
not which is why when swagging jacketed
bullets you always bump up rather then
size down.

Also, copper plated and hard powder coated
bullets due benefit from the use of lube.
Best method is usually to dip the exposed
portion of the bullets after the
cartridges are loaded in a Carabana based
thin liquid lube that dries as a hard wax
varnish. This will considerably reduce
copper fowling of the boar and allow more
velocity.

__________________What part of, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be INFRINGED" don't you understand ?!?!?

To the most serious charge of "ARMING WOMEN" I plead guilty on multiple counts.

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